Page 2 of Vampire's Bite

Before I could even think about doing anything one of the masked guys was in front of me with material in his hand. Without any warning he brought the material up and pulled it down over my head. It scratched against my skin, making me think it was probably a burlap bag, something they could cover me with so I couldn't see where they were taking me.

I would have much preferred just a blindfold.

The small holes in the grain of the fabric allowed me to see a minuscule amount of light. My anxiety kicked up to an all new level as claustrophobia kicked in. I tried to focus on the fact that the holes let a small bit of air through, keeping me from breathing stale air inside the sack, or worse from suffocating myself, and again the image of the fish dying on the sand flashed in front of my mind’s eye.

"We'll keep you safe until we can lure Rook out," the driver said, although his tone promised nothing and so didn’t help my still building anxiety. “But don’t try anything stupid.”

The van lurched around a corner, I rolled to my side, and almost immediately, nausea set in. If I couldn’t watch where I was going, I got carsick, and had since I was a small child. The van’s motion only exacerbated the problem. Add to that the fact that I couldn't stop myself from moving around because of the handcuffs and I was miserable.

All I could do was hope that Jo would realize that something was wrong and be able to relay the message to Rook in time. Otherwise, I was as good as dead.

2

Rook

The elevator dinged softly before the door slid silently open and Ash stepped into the penthouse. He straightened his tie and brushed his suit jacket with his hands before he turned and glared at me.

"Is it really so urgent that you couldn't wait until our scheduled meeting tomorrow?" he asked, strolling into the room like he owned the place. Ash had attitude where other men of his caliber had learned gentility, formality, the art of hauling out a people skill or two.

We had planned on discussing several different items at our meeting tomorrow, but I couldn’t wait a moment longer. This was too important, too vital to wait to discuss. I sensed strife building in the vampire community, and whether I was correct or not, Ash would be the one who could, and would, fill me in. He tended to keep his finger on the pulse of the kingdom, and to this point, he had never led me astray.

"Of course it's urgent." I walked over from the bar and handed a glass of wine to Ash and gestured for him to join me in the living room. Settling in my leather armchair, I swirled the wine around the glass watching the ruby liquid and wishing it was Cordelia’s blood, even though I’d rather drink that straight from the source.

I couldn’t think about things like that with Ash around though so I pushed the longing and hunger that was growing inside me from my mind and focused on my friend and colleague instead. He wrote a semi-disinterested smile, but he cared every bit as much as I did about the state of affairs in our community.

"I want an update on the situation at court," I instructed, bypassing all niceties. We’d been friends too long to fool with small talk, especially when things were so out of sorts.

"Well," Ash began as he sat down on the far end of the couch and looked down at his wine. "I can't say that much has changed since we spoke a few days ago. I'm still in discussions with many of the diplomats in hopes of persuading their alliance to you. It took more effort than you would believe to convince them that you were still alive and hadn’t given yourself to the sun out of shame." I wasn’t as concerned with their alliance as their allegiance. And those two things were very different. Allegiance was a pledge. Alliance was not.

It was crucial that I obtain the majority’sallegianceif I wanted to return to court. Otherwise, I’d be ostracized permanently. That wasn’t an option.

“Between the rumors of my gluttony and the rumors of my death I’m surprised that anyone believes any of it any more,” I grumbled.

“True, but you know the court loves to gossip and there’s nothing like a fallen prince to set tongues wagging.”

I sighed, of course they wanted to talk about the banished prince and all his tawdry affairs, of which there were actually none. After taking a sip of the wine I said, "You can mark Massimo as a supporter, if you're keeping score. I feel certain that I have him under control after our last discussion." His reassurance at our last meeting was nice but I would’ve preferred the proof in blood.

I stared into my wine watching the unblended tannins floating in the deep burgundy liquid, hoping that I was correct. Massimo had been a complete pain in my ass ever since he had begun spreading false rumors about me and my activities. If not for him, I wouldn’t be nearly so anxious.

He'd gone out of his way to paint me as a wayward rockstar who used and abused everything I could get my hands on. Ash had informed me several months ago that Massimo had been attempting to convince the court that I’d glutted myself on the humans in the area, which was as far from the truth as possible. I abstained to the point of pain until I could make sure I wasn’t breaking a rule. He could ask anyone.

As a matter of fact, when it came to feeding, I always followed the proper channels through management at the Nest. Additionally, I never took advantage of the feeders. Sure, there was the occasional fucking, but it was always consensual. I never forced my will or tried to “convince” anyone. It was simple sex. Freely desired and freely given. And it never went beyond that.

Well, that was until Cordelia. Things had certainly gone quite a ways father with her, and hopefully they’d continue to move forward. In fact, I wanted them to go as far as possible. Thinking of her and how far we’d gone made desire flare in my stomach. I wanted her again.

I pushed the unwelcome thoughts away once more. The woman seemed to invade every inch of me and while I loved it, I had to deal with business matters first.

Massimo knew he could get away with the rumors because he was friends with Hugh, the current ruler of the vampire court. Hugh also happened to be my cousin and there had been a long-standing power struggle between the two of us. That was the way of families like ours since the beginning of time.

He and his mate, Fiona, were the highest-ranking mated vampires in hundreds of years. And, one of the main reasons he could exile me from court was because of the standing finding his true mate gave him. Hugh was revered for such good luck since it wasn’t always the case that we found our true mates. It was truly that uncommon and all that reverence gave him the upper hand. If not for that, I never would have left in the first place.

"That's wonderful news." Ash’s voice interrupted my thoughts and I mentally chastised myself for letting my mind wander while I was trying to have a conversation. "I never thought I'd see the day that Massimo would be under your thumb." Ash laughed and took another sip of his wine.

He had a right to chuckle and be incredulous. Massimo had always been unpredictable, a wildcard in a game where wild cards were not assigned a value but could affect the outcome in one of a thousand ways.

"Well, that day has come, my friend." I leaned forward and placed my wine glass onto my new coffee table. Many pieces of furniture had suffered my rage over the years, my last coffee table only the most recent of victims. So I had been forced to order a new one, more sturdy than its predecessor because it was constructed of solid wood. No chance of it shattering into a million pieces during a fit of unbridled anger.

Only Cordie could pull that type of reaction from me. I had known from the beginning that there was something special about her blood. I’d never tasted anything like it. There was a sweetness to her, too thetasteof her anyway. But there was more to it than that. It only started with the blood, but in no way did it end there. I needed every inch of her body and soul, and I frequently found myself daydreaming about the next time I’d see her.

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